Reassurance
by peachy15
Summary: After a family crisis strikes the Stevens family, are they going to be able to cope? TwittyRen and LouisTawny
1. Default Chapter

**Disclaimer's Note: No, unfortunately I don't own the television show Even Stevems:-(**

Ren Stevens sat on her brother's bed, hugging her legs close to her chest. She allowed her tears to flow freely from her eyes, staining her perfectly smooth face in the process. She managed to choke back her sobs and weep silently.

Louis walked slowly up to her, putting a gentle hand on her back. As Ren raised her eyes to look at his face she noticed he too had been crying.

"I'm...I'm gonna run down to Tawny's for a little while. I don't know how much more of this environment I can take. Seeing mom and dad like that...I just don't know if I can..."

Ren nodded empathetically. "I know what you mean."

"Are you gonna be alright?" Louis asked his sister in concern.

Ren nodded slightly, staring at what appeared to be nothing. She shook her head and brushed her hair our of her face.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'll be fine. You go ahead." Ren smiled in reassurance, but not fooling Louis for a second.

"All right. I'll be back in a couple hours." Louis told her, giving Ren one last squeeze on her shoulder in consolation.

Louis wiped his face with his hands, getting rid of any remaining tears that were still there.

"See you later." Ren whispered to him, then realizing that he was already halfway down the stairs once she said it.

Ren closed her eyes and placed her head against her knees. Not able to stop the flow of tears that escaped, she cried.

She stayed in that position for a long time, ignoring anything around her; which was probably why she didn't notice a figure standing in the doorway of her brother's room.

For what seemed to be no particular reason, Ren lifted her head. Her eyes searched the now dark room and she gasped when she glanced at the doorway.

"Oh..." She breathed in relief. "Twitty...It's only you."

Twitty nodded.

"Well...um...Louis isn't here right now. He went over to Tawny's. He actually shouldn't even be back for a couple hours more...Who let you in?"

Twitty cleared his throat. Suddenly it had started to feel dry.

"Um...Your mom answered the door. She told me that she didn't think that Louis was here. But...um...I heard what happened and I just wanted to say that I'm sorry."

At this point Twitty was working his way closer to where Ren was sitting on Louis' bed.

"...And...I know how close you were to your grandfather...I don't really know what else to say. I really am sorry."

Ren stifled a laugh. Twitty was so sweet sometimes.

"Thank you, Twitty." She said softly.

Twitty gently sat down next to her in the middle of the bed.

There was a moment of awkward silence between the two of them until Twitty noticed Ren's fresh tears running down her cheeks.

"Ren? It's gonna be okay. I know that people hate to here this...but...something's were meant to be. Maybe he finally let himself go in the hospital because he knew you guys would be okay without him. I mean, I know it's gonna be hard for a while, but, eventually you're gonna pull through it. You're strong, Ren. So is your whole family."

"Twitty..." Ren choked through her tears. "How...How can you say that? What gives you the right?" She demanded.

Twitty was taken aback. He thought that what he just said might give her atleast a little reassurance. Sure, nobody likes to hear those things about someone they loved but...he was only trying to help!

"What gives me the right to what?" He asked, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion.

Ren looked at him in astonishment for a moment before answering.

"My grandfather happened to love us all very much, Twitty. If he were to have a say in when he died he would _never_ have chosen now. No, he would have waited forever, just to avoid our pain. There was a saying that he used to say to our grandma. I'm not sure where he got it from but, it went something like this: 'If you were to live to be one hundred, then I'd live to be one hundred and one day so I'd never have to live a day without you.' He never spoke a truer word in his life. Do you really think that if he had a choice in when he died he would have chosen now? Do you think he would have left my grandmother completely shattered and helpless...?"

Twitty sat listening to Ren break through to him and noticed that she was shivering.

"Ren?" Twitty attempted to interrupt her.

"Do you think that I'm some type of selfish pig?"

Wow. Twitty did _not_ expect that coming.

"What?"

"Do you think that I'm so perfect that I don't _care_ that my grandfather is never coming back? That I'm really going to tell my family to get over it and move on? How _strong_ do you think I am...?"

Twitty now noticed that Ren was no longer shivering. She was _shaking_.

"Ren?" Twitty attempted to interrupt her once more.

When Ren didn't relent, Twitty tried to pull her against him.

"No! Stop it Twitty. I do not need your sympathy. I'm a big girl now."

"Shhh. I know. Just relax Ren. I never meant to offend you. I'm sorry."

"No, no, no." Ren whimpered. "Stop."

"Ren, it's alright. Calm down. I was only trying to help. I know you're not like that. I know it. Come here."

Feeling comforted by the words Twitty spoke and the soothingness in his voice, Ren closed her eyes and allowed Twitty to pull her into him. There she was able to bury her face into his shoulder and cry. Twitty stroked her back and whispered into her ear.

It didn't take long before Ren had comfortably fallen asleep.

Ren awoke and glanced at her alarm clock next to her bed.

"One-o-three." She murmured.

She sat up and searched her environment. How did she get in here?

The last thing she remembered was being in Louis' room and being held by Twitty.

'Wow.' Ren thought to herself. 'What a night. Twitty?'

Despite her astonishment at what Twitty had done for her, she couldn't help but smile.

'Alan Twitty. With his arms around me?'

Thinking back to only a couple hours ago brought back the reason as to why Twitty held her in his arms.

'Grandpa.' Ren sighed and ran a hand through her unkempt hair. She stood up and decided to get a drink of water before attempting to sleep again.

Ren walked down the darkened hallway as quietly as she knew how, careful not to disturb anyone. The last thing anyone in the house needed was to be deprived of a good night's sleep just because Ren needed to get some water.

As she tiptoed down the stairs she suddenly felt a rush of cool air pass over her. She shivered.

As she hit the last step she noticed the window by the door was wide open.

Although, without a doubt, it made her feel uneasy, she decided to make it her responsibility to shut it. She made her way over to the window and, before slamming it shut, she decided to stick her head out the window and see how nice it was. Ren relaxed as she felt the cool air hit her skin. She turned her head slightly and searched for the moon. She spotted it hiding behind a group of trees. She smiled. That was more like it.

Ren backed her head out of the window and closed it.

She sighed and continued her way into the kitchen. Not bothering to turn the light on, Ren felt her way in the cabinet for a glass.

"Ah ha!" She exclaimed.

Ren grabbed her chosen glass and brought it over to the sink with her. She ran the water, waiting to fill her glass until she felt the water was cold enough.

As Ren sipped her water she heard a bang. It wasn't a tremendous bang, but it was loud enough to make her heart stop, even if only for a second.

Ren gently placed her now empty glass in the sink. She really didn't want to walk around the corner but she knew she had to in order to get back upstairs. She also knew that was where the noise had come from.

As she came closer to where she had to turn, she grabbed an umbrella. Though she knew it wouldn't be able to do much damage, she knew if she used it the right way, it would be able to do just enough damage for her to run to the telephone.

Ren rounded the dark corner and stifled an expected scream and, without full realization, slammed her umbrella on top of the figure's head.

Lucky for him, Ren wasn't all that strong.

An "Ow." And a thump were the only two things that Ren heard before she realized that Louis was lying before her on the ground.

"Oh my gosh! Louis! I am so sorry! I had no idea that was you! What are you doing down here at nearly one thirty in the morning anyway?" Ren nearly hissed, trying desperately to regain both her breath and a heartbeat.

"I could ask you the same thing." Louis replied, barely hiding the smirk that was forming on his face, due to scaring his sister so bad.

"I'm gonna kill you Louis." Ren whispered as she leaned down to help her little brother up. "In case you need to know, I was getting a drink of water."

Ren looked at Louis expectantly.

"Well?"

"What?"

Ren rolled her eyes. "Why did you come down here? Just to give me a heart attack?"

Louis smirked alittle.

"I couldn't sleep. I've been up for about an hour playing video games. Doesn't seem to work. It's like, no matter what I do, nothing seems to take my mind off of..." Louis' voice trailed off. "God Ren! Is it wrong for me to want to take my mind off of him for even a minute? How sick is that? I mean, he just died and I don't want to think about him?"

Louis' voice began to crack. "Oh great! Now I'm gonna start crying again!"

"Shh. Louis, it's alright to cry. It's okay." Ren pulled Louis into a hug and allowed him to cry on her shoulder, just like Twitty let Ren.

After a moment or two, Ren pulled back. "Are you okay now?"

Louis nodded. "Yeah, I guess I just let my emotions get the best of me. Sorry."

"No problem, Louis...Listen, I'm gonna go to bed now. I don't know about you, but whatever you decide, just don't wake up mom and dad."

"I think I'm gonna try and go to bed too."

As Ren and Louis started off to their separate bedrooms, Ren paused in the middle of the staircase.

"Holy geez, Ren. What's the big idea?"

Ren turned around to face Louis.

"Louis...What time did you get home?"

"You mean from Tawny's?"

Ren nodded.

"Um...About ten-o-clock. Why?"

Ignoring his question, Ren asked one of her own. "Where was I when you got home?"

Louis looked at his sister in confusion. "You were in your bedroom, and Twitty was just leaving. Why do you want to know?"

Ignoring him once again, Ren responded with a simple 'thank you' and 'goodnight'.

Ren walked off to bed, thinking about how Twitty must have picked her up in his strong arms and tucked her into bed while she was sleeping.

She was gonna have to thank him for that.


	2. Two Fights and a Funeral

Louis woke up to the smell of bacon filling his nostrils. He glanced at his clock.

"Eight thirty- seven." He mumbled.

Louis forced himself to sit up in bed. He was always the last one up in his family. He finally gathered enough strength to stand up and stretch.

Louis threw a t-shirt on over his bare chest and slipped into a pair of loose jeans.

As he trampled down the stairs he could now smell the pancakes- but not just any pancakes- they were dad's special strawberry banana pancakes. He could smell sausages and corn beef hash warming on the stove.

"Good morning." Louis stated as happy as he possibly could.

His mother looked up to him with sad eyes and a smile on her face.

"Good morning, sweetie. How'd you sleep?"

Louis made a hand gesture. "Alright, I guess."

Louis looked around the room and noticed and extra person standing in their kitchen.

"Hey buddy. What's up? When'd you get in?" Louis asked his brother as he gave him a quick hug.

"Hey man...I actually got in a couple hours ago- about four thirty and slept on the couch. I came as soon as I could get a flight out of Texas. How're you holdin' up?"

Louis could detect the concern in Donnie's voice.

"I'm...I'm doin' okay."

Donnie nodded. "That's good." Donnie diverted his attention back to his mom.

"Where's Ren? She's the only one I haven't seen this morning."

Eileen frowned. "She went out for a run. She's having a hard time coping."

Louis turned from the refrigerator and looked to his mother.

"What, sweetie?"

"I...I just can't believe you." Louis said to her, a look of astonishment forming in his eyes.

"What?" Eileen asked, stupefied as to why Louis would have an outburst like that.

"You and your precious Ren! God...is it always about her? It's always 'Ren's grades are so perfect.' And 'Ren did this today.' Now it's 'Ren's having a difficult time coping with her grandfather's death.' Let me ask you something mom, am I taking grampie's death as hard as Ren is, or am I okay with it?" By this time, Ren had gotten back from her jog and Steve had come into the kitchen.

"Louis, sweetie, I'm sorry. I didn't think that-"

"That's just it, mom! You didn't think about me at all! You're always thinking about Ren and how great she is! And if it's not Ren, then it's Donnie and how great of an athlete he is and how great he's doing in college. Why isn't anything about me?" Louis was in tears by this point.

"Now, Louis, that is enough! We do not need this from you right now! My father just died and that is enough on this family! We do not need anymore stress right now!" Steve hollered, on the verge of tears himself.

Louis calmed himself down a bit.

"That's all I am to this family, huh? Just a...pile of stress?"

"Now, Louis you know that's not true!" Ren said as she attempted to ease the tension in that kitchen.

"Thanks, Ren, I appreciate you're little guilt trip you got goin' there, but it's not working. I see how this family really thinks of me now. And unfortunately, it only took me up until grampie's death to figure it out."

Louis calmly made his way over to the coat rack in the hallway.

"I'm going for a walk. I'll be back later." He yelled to his family. "If you even care." He added under his breath before slamming the door behind him.

...................................................................................................

"Dammit, Steve!" Eileen yelled once they were alone in the kitchen.

Steve brushed his hands over his head in frustration.

"I'm sorry, Eileen! But do you really think we need this from him now? Do you think that it's fair for me to have to deal with the death of my father _and_ a spoiled kid thriving for attention?"

"How dare you, Steve!" Eileen lashed at her husband. "Now, I am _sorry_ that you're father died. As you can see, we all are _very_ upset over his death. But that is you're _son_ you are talking about! Obviously he is having a much more difficult time accepting this than we thought he did!"

Eileen looked to her husband expectantly.

"Well, what do you want me to do about it? Do you want me to run after him?"

"I think that would be in the best of both of our judgment." Eileen answered him.

"Fine." Steve replied. "Whatever makes you happy."

.............................................................................................

Louis sat on the park bench.

"I just don't get it." He said, his voice cracked but he was no longer crying.

"Shh. I know, sweetie." Tawny whispered soothingly. "I know it seems like they've abandoned you and you feel alone...but you know what? Believe it or not, Louis, but you're family loves you very much. I happen to know that for a fact. Things are just getting rough with your grandpa's death, and I know that it seems like things will never get back to how they used to be, and in a sense that's right, but eventually things will fall into place. I promise you."

Tawny looked down at Louis. He had his face buried in her shoulder from when he was crying.

"Tawny...I don't know what I'd do without you. I really don't. I'd probably have killed myself a long time ago it you weren't right there holding me together."

"Oh, Louis." Tawny said affectionately. "Don't say that."

"Tawny...I...I just wanted you to know that I love you. I always have and I always will."

Tawny looked at Louis in amazement.

"Louis...no...Louis. We've crossed this path before and...it didn't work out. Remember?"

Louis nodded. "I know. But I just can't stop the feeling that we were meant for each other. Don't you feel it? The tingling feeling whenever our fingers touch. The butterflies that flutter in your stomach whenever we see each other from across the hall. The jealousy that continuously builds whenever we see each other kiss someone else. Please, Tawny, please tell me you feel the same way."

Tawny looked into Louis' pleading eyes. They were sparkling with hope and desire.

"Oh...Louis. I don't...I don't know what to say."

Louis' face dropped with heartbreak.

"You...you don't feel it?" Louis said with a slight laugh in his voice. "Wow. Don't I feel stupid?"

"No...No, Louis you were right. I'm glad that you told me how you felt. It gives me a chance to explore my feelings for you-"

"Tawny, if you felt the same way I feel about you, you wouldn't have to think about it. You'd know. Trust me, if you had these feelings about someone that I have about you, you'd know."

Louis stood up from the bench and wiped off his pants for no particular reason.

"I...I should go. Thanks, Tawny. I feel better." Louis forced a smile.

"Louis...I-"

"It's okay. Hey, that's life, right? I'd rather have you as a friend than have you as nothing. Deal?" Louis grinned.

Tawny nodded, grinning back. "Of course."

"See you around, Tawn." Louis said as he stuffed his hands in his pockets and walked off. He glanced at his watch.

"Ten thirty!" He yelped. "Crap! The funeral starts in an hour!"

Louis ran the rest of the mile to his house, not once stopping to catch his breath.

"Louis!" His mother exclaimed, wiping at her eyes with a tissue. "You're father just went out to look for you. We have to leave in a half an hour, so jump in the shower and get you're clothes on. Hurry up!"

Louis simply nodded, not feeling up to talking seeing as that could only lead to more arguments.

As Louis started his way up the stairs he could vaguely hear his mother on the phone, telling his father that he was home.

...........................................................................................

With five people in the Steven's family car, the trip to the funeral home was exceptionally quiet.

"Well, we're here." Steve announced as he pulled into a parking space. "Why don't you take Ren and Donnie in. I'd like to talk to Louis for a minute." Eileen nodded in agreement.

"C'mon you two." Eileen beckoned to her two children.

Once the three of them were out of the car and on their way through the front doors of the building, Steve turned around in his seat to face Louis.

"Louis." Steve began sternly. "I would like to apologize to you. I was out of line earlier, but need I remind you that I wasn't the only one. I think you owe me an apology as well for the way you acted. You had a-"

"Dad, I kn-"

"Excuse me, Louis, I'm speaking right now."

Louis nodded and shut his mouth out of respect for his father.

"You had an outburst, and that is not the way we handle things in our family. I, myself, apologize if I offended you, which apparently I had. I, in no means whatsoever, meant to insult you."

Louis rolled his eyes. He probably didn't even know what he was apologizing for.

"I _never_ meant for you to think that you were what was causing all the stress. That is certainly not the case and I am sorry."

Louis swallowed hard. "I'm sorry, too, dad. I never meant to disrespect you or upset you."

The two Stevens men looked at each other with respect.

Steve took a deep breath.

"Well, are you ready?"

Louis nodded slightly. "As ready as I'll ever be." He responded with a weak smile.

Steve and Louis made their way to the funeral home, preparing for an emotional breakdown.

.....................................................................................

Louis and Steve took a seat in the front pew, next to Eileen, Ren, and Donnie.

"I'm sorry." Louis whispered to his mother.

Eileen smiled at her youngest son. "I know. Me too."

They diverted their attention back to the minister.

.......................................................................................

Steve had just delivered his eulogy of his father and had reentered the pew teary- eyed. Ren patted his back soothingly.

"It's alright, dad." She whispered. "You did good."

Steve buried his face in his hands.

Ren looked to Louis for some kind of sign.

Louis nodded to her in reassurance.

Ren sat next to her father with her arms around him and cried with him.

The service was about to end, therefore forcing Steve to gather enough strength to wipe his eyes and help his brother and two sons to carry the casket out to the car.

The four of them walked silently to the hearse, really taking in what's happening.

The funeral director nodded to the four men standing in front of him.

"Thank you." He said hoarsely.

The Steven's men walked off to their awaiting car, meeting up with Eileen and Ren.

"Um...I just wanted to thank you for coming." Steve mumbled to his brother. "I know that...that you didn't exactly get along as of late. But...it means a lot to us, and I know it does to dad."

Steven looked at Chuck in the car, and Chuck looked back at him.

"Steve," he said softly. "He was my father, too, and no matter how much we didn't get along, I still loved him."

Chuck smiled at Steve before continuing. "And, in respect and honor of dad's death, I am fulfilling his wishes. I _am_ going to become an honest, better man. I just wish that dad was able to see the changes and not..." Chuck's voice began to trail off as tears filled his eyes.

"Whew. Sorry about that." He said to his family in the car as he dabbed at his eyes with a tissue. "I promised myself that I wouldn't cry. I wouldn't get all emotional in front of you kids. I just don't-"

Steve stopped him by placing a gently hand on his shoulder.

"Chuck, it's alright to cry. It's okay." Steve soothed his brother.

Chuck wasn't able to contain his bottled emotion for much longer. He let himself cry within the confines of the car.

.........................................................................................

The Steven's family stood huddled together watching as the minister said the final goodbyes.

Mrs. Stevens, Steve and Chuck's mother, was now being comforted by her three grandchildren.

There had been many people at the funeral. The man was extremely popular and well loved by former co- workers, high school friends, and poker buddies. He was highly respected in the community and county.

By now, though, the attendance had died down significantly. Basically, there were only immediate family and close friends left.

Ren soon left her two brothers to comfort her grandmother. She walked over to where they had placed her grandfather's casket.

As Ren kneeled there in front of her grandfather's sheltered body, she felt someone touch her shoulder. She stifled a yelp and turned around.

"Oh." She breathed. "Twitty. It's only you. Again." Ren gave him a quizzical look.

"Deja- vu?" He suggested.

Ren nodded slightly. "Why are you here? Not that I don't appreciate you coming, but why?"

Twitty shrugged. "Tawny and I decided we'd lend some of our support to you guys. I mean, we've known you guys for so long that you're kind of like our second family too."

"Tawny's here?" Ren asked in surprise.

Twitty nodded. "Yeah. She's right over there with your brothers and your grandmother."

Ren looked to where Twitty was pointing. Sure enough, she saw Tawny with her arm around Louis and Donnie kneeling in front of their grandmother, rubbing her back in consolation.

"Um...well thank you for coming Twitty. Did you see Louis yet?"

He shook his head. "Tawny and Louis got into a bit of a...situation this morning, so I thing it would be best if they worked things out on their own." Twitty grinned. "They were totally meant for each other, so they have to."

Ren smiled. "You know, I think you might be right."


	3. Sunday Afternoon

Ren woke up the next morning to the sun streaming in her room, brushing over her face lightly, but just enough it was able to wake her.

She sat up and stretched. It was Sunday morning. Ren _hated_ Sundays. They were always so…uneventful and boring.

She sighed before deciding to throw on a bathrobe over her pajamas and go downstairs for breakfast.

"Ren!" Her mother greeted. "You're up early for a Sunday morning."

Ren glanced at the clock. It was seven-twenty.

"Yeah. Yeah, I guess I am."

Eileen laughed. "Well, we're the only ones up I guess."

"That's really not funny mom." Ren said under her breath as she rolled her eyes.

"Did you say something honey?" Eileen asked her daughter.

Ren shook her head and smiled. "No."

Eileen smiled at her daughter in return. "Okay."

"So, what are you doing?" Ren asked her mom.

Eileen sighed. "Well, Donnie's leaving back to college late tonight, so I was thinking about making a special breakfast."

"Just for Donnie?" Ren asked.

Eileen shrugged. "This family's been through a lot within the past week, Ren. With your grandfather's funeral yesterday…it's the least I could do for everyone. You're dad, Louis, you…"

"Let me help."

Eileen smiled. "Of course."

…………………………………………………………………

"Mmm. What smells so good in here?" Steve asked as he walked into the kitchen an hour later with Donnie and Louis trailing close behind.

Eileen and Ren had _just_ finished setting the table with plates of food.

"Mmm." Louis repeated his father. "Smells like…eggs, hash, French toast, sausage, and…"

"Do I smell bacon?" A familiar voice asked.

Ren rolled her eyes and Louis gasped.

"Beans! What are you doing here?" Steve demanded. "…I thought we had the locks changed!"

Beans shrugged. "Bacon is bacon, Mr. Stevens…Speaking of bacon…"

"Um…Beans…sweetie," Mrs. Stevens said gently. "Today's probably not the best day for you to be…over here. Our family's been through a lot of stress this past week, not to say that you're stressful, but…"

Steve sighed in exasperation. "Beans, you can eat breakfast with us."

Eileen gave her husband a look of sympathy.

"Beans, how about I just give you a handful of bacon. This is more of a family breakfast, okay, sweetie."

Beans nodded. "Okay Mrs. Stevens. Thanks for the bacon."

Beans left through the back door, leaving the Stevens family relieved and at peace.

"Well, this should be a peaceful morning." Steve said as he sat down in his place at the head of the table.

"Mmm…mmm…mmm." Donnie commented as he took a whiff of the corn beef hash Ren passed to him. "This smells delicious, ladies."

"Uh huh!" Louis agreed, his mouth stuffed with the eggs. "Dewishus!"

Ren made a face at her younger brother.

"So, what are your plans for today kids?" Eileen asked.

Donnie shrugged. "I thought I'd go ahead and see if the guys wanted to play a little football or something in the park."

Eileen smiled.

"So, you come down here to spend some time with your family after your grandfather dies and the day after his funeral, you go ahead and decide to 'hang out' with your friends? That says a lot about your respect of this family." Steve nearly spat.

Donnie, along with the rest of the family, sat staring at Steve in astonishment.

"Steve, sweetie, don't you think you're being a little harsh?" Eileen asked her husband.

"_Harsh_? You think _I'm_ being harsh? Louis, what are your plans?" Steve asked, as though challenging his own authority.

Louis gulped down whatever had just been in his mouth.

"Well…um…actually…Tawny, Twitty, and I had made plans yesterday. We're just going to hang out at the new hangout center in-"

"I've heard enough already." Steve said in disgust. "Ren? What are your plans?"

Ren shrugged meekly. "I…I hadn't made any plans. I was just going to stay at home. Maybe finish up some homework."

Steve nodded approvingly. "I guess Ren's the descent one of my children."

"Figures." Louis said under his breath. "Little Miss Perfect."

"Excuse me Louis? Did you say something?" Steve asked his son.

Louis shook his head while Ren blushed slightly.

"It's not my fault." She protested quietly. "I didn't even think about making plans. It's not like I'm sucking up."

Steve put a supportive hand on his daughter's shoulder.

"I know that sweetie. As for today, everybody stays home. No one leaves this house without my permission. It is the day after my father's funeral and I think both he and this family deserve a little more respect than some of us are giving." Steve paused and looked at Louis and Donnie in emphasis. He stood up and placed his hands on the table. "As I said. No one leaves this house today. Got it?"

Louis was about to protest by reminding his dad he said 'No one leaves this house _without my permission_.' But his mother gently placed a hand on his shoulder and shushed him.

Steve made his point and left the table, leaving his family to finish breakfast without him.

…………………………………………………………………………………………

"So, what's up dad's ass?" Louis asked in aggravation as he lay on his bed, tossing a football in the air and catching it.

Donnie sighed. "Stress I guess. I mean, we're all going through it and he's acting like a Nazi general. He's being such a…"

"Jerk?" Louis suggested as he sat up.

Donnie shrugged. "Yeah, I guess. I mean, I hate to call him that because he is really upset. But I mean, he really is being an ass. I wonder if this is going to be an ongoing thing or if he'll get over acting like this eventually."

Louis nodded. "Let's hope he gets over it."

…………………………………………………………………………………….

"Why do you have to go after the kids like that, Steve? Why do you do that?" Eileen shouted at her husband in as much aggravation as Louis.

"Do you think they have any respect for my father who just died?" Steve shouted back. "Making plans to go out with friends really seems like mourning to me!"

Eileen shook her head. "You don't understand, do you Steve?" Eileen said, lowering her voice slightly. "Did it ever occur to you that the kids may have different ways of handling this burden? Maybe going out with friends helps to ease their pain and take their mind off of the fact that their grandfather just died. But, regardless of the ways they handle that, they're going to come home every single day, whether it be from hanging out with friends and having a good time, and they're going to face the fact that their grandfather is no longer around. It will _never_ go away. Steve, your children are not trying to find a way to forget about your dad. They're simply finding a way to deal with the pain without hurting so much." Eileen's voice had turned soft and gentle and quiet by the time she had finished her speech.

Steve looked at his wife with an expression of pain and regret.

………………………………………………………………………………………….

"Knock knock." Ren said as she bit her lip.

"What do you want?" Louis said rather snottily.

"Louis!" Donnie scolded. "Stop it. It's not her fault. What's up, Ren?"

Ren swallowed hard before entering Louis' room.

"Um…I just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry for before. I-"

"Why should you be? I mean, you are perfect. Aren't you?" Louis snapped.

Ren looked pleadingly to Donnie. Donnie caught her glance.

"Knock it off, Louis, and listen to what she has to say." Donnie said, aggravated by the way his younger brother was treating his sister.

Louis rolled his eyes.

"That's not true, Louis." Ren sighed as she sat on the corner of his bed, joining her two brothers.

"You have absolutely no idea what I have to go through everyday. Sure, I get good grades and I don't get into much trouble. That in no way means I'm perfect, though. And you have absolutely no right to tell me how good I have it. You don't know what kind of things I have to go through."

Louis sighed. "I'm sorry, Ren. It just seems like you have it so much easier. I guess I was thinking too much of all your accomplishments I forgot that you have faults too. I'm sorry."

Ren nodded in understanding. "It's okay."

There was a knock on the door.

"Who is it?" Louis called.

Somebody cleared their throat on the other side. "It's your dad. Can I come in?"

Louis sighed dramatically.

"I guess."

Steve opened the door.

"Hey. Um…I just came up here to…apologize. I guess I was out of line earlier. It took a gentle reminder for me to realize that some people deal with death differently than others. What I interpreted as disrespect was simply a way for you kids to deal with your grandfather's death, and I misjudged you. For that I am truly sorry."

Steve glanced at his watch. "Um…it's still early. Only one-o-clock. If you kids still want to go out with your friends and get your minds off…well, if you guys still want to go out, that's perfectly fine with me."

Donnie nodded. Louis raised his eyebrows. Ren smiled.

Steve smiled slightly at his children before leaving Louis' room.

Louis sighed. "So…does anybody feel like going out now?"

Donnie and Ren shook their heads.

"Yeah. Me neither."

The three kids remained sitting in Louis' room for the next twenty minutes, not doing much.

"Louis!" Eileen shouted from downstairs. "Telephone call!"

Louis bolted from his room in a heartbeat.

He returned soon enough to retrieve a jacket from his closet.

"Louis? Where on earth are you going?" Ren asked.

"Tawny called. She and Twitty are heading down to the new hangout center. And everyone knows there's no fun without Louis Stevens. Catch you guys later." With that, Louis was gone.

Ren sighed. "So, where does that leave us?"

Donnie shrugged. "Well, I don't know about you but I for one don't feel like being cooped in this house all day."

"What do you have in mind?" Ren asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Grab your coat."

………………………………………………………………………………….

"Go long!" Donnie shouted.

"Go long? What are you talking about? I can't even go short!" Ren called back.

The two of them were throwing a football back and forth in the park and Donnie was trying, unsuccessfully, to teach his younger sister exactly _how_ to play the sport.

"Donnie! It's completely pointless! I have no idea how to play this!" Ren shouted across the park.

"It's easy. Just start by catching the ball!"

Donnie threw her the ball again and flew past her.

"I'll get it!" Ren shouted, half grunting.

She ran to the area where she saw the ball land.

"Ah ha!" She exclaimed as she reached to pick up the football.

A pair of feet were rooted in front of the football and as she stood up she noticed Twitty standing in front of her.

"Hey, Twitty." Ren greeted.

"Hey."

"I thought you'd be hanging out with Louis at the new teen hangout place."

Twitty shrugged. "I was. But…Tawny's there. And Tawny and Louis together…well let's just say too much flirting makes me a little queasy. Especially between those two."

Ren laughed and nodded. "It's about time those two did something about it."

Twitty smiled and looked over her shoulder.

Ren turned around.

"What's up, Twitty?" Donnie greeted.

"Hey! How are you?" Twitty asked, giving him a friendly handshake.

"Great, apart from the obvious. How about you?"

Twitty gave Donnie a look of sympathy and responded.

"I'm fine. Just ditched Louis. I figure poking my eye out with a stick would be much more gaiety than being subjected to Louis and Tawny's countless flirting attempts."

Donnie chuckled. "It's gotten that bad?"

"Oh yeah."

Ren took this opportunity to clear her throat and remind the boys that she was still standing there.

"Oh. Well Ren and I were just throwing this football around. Did you want to join us?"

Twitty nodded. "Sure. Why not?"

For some reason Ren could not finger, it seemed to be that her heart was beating much faster at that moment. It felt to her as though there were a group of butterflies and someone had just set them free inside her stomach.

The three of them remained in the park for the next two hours, throwing the football to each other and the attempting to teach Ren how to play football, still to no avail.

……………………………………………………………………………..

Ren and Donnie walked into the Steven's house at roughly six-o-clock that night.

"Hey, kids!" Eileen greeted, standing in front of the kitchen counter.

"How was your day?"

"Great! We just spent the day at the park tossing the football around." Donnie explained. "Twitty dropped by at the end of the day and he hung out with us for a little while. So it was all good."

Eileen smiled. "I'm glad to see you two hanging out together like you used to. It's sweet."

Ren and Donnie looked at each other and smirked, trying not to roll their eyes.

"Anyway, dinner's almost ready and you have to get ready yourself, Donnie. Are you packed?"

Donnie nodded.

"Alright, sweetie. Dinner will be in five minutes. Why don't you two wash up and get Louis. He's upstairs. Dinner should be on the table by then."

She watched as her two oldest children ran up the stairs and she couldn't help but allow a tear or two to fall down her cheek.

"Hey, honey-" Steve stopped when he saw his wife's tear stained face. "What's wrong?"

Eileen's voice cracked and she wiped at some tears, trying to brush them away.

"It's nothing, stupid, really." Eileen sighed before continuing. "It's just…Tonight will be the first night that we can really be a family. What, with Donnie home from college and both the kids home for the night…and I really miss that."

Steve held his wife against his chest and allowed her to cry.

That night the Steven's family was able to sit together at the dinner table and eat together as a family.

Ren and Louis stayed home, after saying their goodbyes to their older brother, while Eileen and Steve drove him to the airport.

They were tired and it was Sunday night. They had to get ready for school the next day. Who knows? Maybe tomorrow would be the day Louis asks Tawny out. Maybe tomorrow would be the day that Twitty will make his move on Ren…


	4. The Accident

An arm wiggled its way out from the blankets of comfort, searching blindly for the snooze button on the alarm clock. A low grunt and a sudden throw of the covers revealed a muscle- bound teenager with blond hair lying sprawled across his bed.

He turned off his alarm clock and lay staring at the ceiling.

"Mondays." He sighed, shaking his head.

"Alan!"

It took Twitty a moment to process the fact that his mother had been calling him repeatedly and pounding at his door.

"Alan! You are going to be late for school if you don't get up _now_!"

Twitty hesitated before answering his mother.

"I'm up, mom. I'll be right down."

Twitty heard an exasperated sigh come from the other side of his room and the light footsteps going down the stairwell.

With much force and self-discipline, Twitty got himself out of bed and went over to his closet.

He grabbed a blue t-shirt and threw on some pants. He then ran to the bathroom, splashed some water on his face, and ran a toothbrush over his teeth.

"Alan, aren't you going to have breakfast?" His mother asked, watching him throw his needed supplies into his backpack in the dining room.

"Don't have time, mom. I have to meet the guys on the way to school. Thanks anyway." Twitty gave his mom a peck on the cheek and snatched the brown paper bag from her hand.

"See ya later!" Mrs. Twitty shook her head in astonishment as she watched her son jog to the end of their street.

………………………………………………………………………………

"I HATE MONDAYS!"

Twitty, Tawny, Ren, and Tom listened to Louis complain the whole way to school.

"I mean, come on, who ever thought of starting school after a weekend?"

"Louis, did you realize that if no one started school after a weekend, there would be _no_ school?" Tawny reminded him.

Louis grunted. "Preferably."

Tawny rolled her eyes and smiled, linking her arm with Louis'.

"Come on, Mr. Grumpy. Pick up the pace or we're going to be late."

"I'm not grumpy!" Louis protested.

Ren and Twitty stole a glance at each other and sustained their laughter.

"Hey, Louis, did you get the chem-"

"Shut up, Tom! I'm not in the mood!"

"Oh no, Louis, you're not grumpy! What was I thinking?" Tawny laughed.

The five teenagers finally made their way inside their high school, moments before the warning bell rang.

"Oh, crap! I'll see you guys later, I have to get to class." Ren told them, finding her way through the crowded hallways.

"You know, now that we're in high school, it's pretty weird to hear Ren say that she's late to class and not late to Principal Wexlar's office." Tom mused.

"I know what you mean," Twitty added. "Whenever Louis tells me he has to stay after for something I always ask him what he did. It's so different now."

"See you guys later." Tawny said to Louis and Twitty as she and Tom made their way to their homeroom, while Louis and Twitty broke off in the direction of _their_ homeroom.

"So, Lou, what's up?" Twitty asked cheerfully, trying to put his friend in a good mood.

Louis shrugged. "You mean apart from the fact that my grandfather just died? Gee, I don't know Twitty. Not much."

Twitty sighed, obviously put off by Louis' mood.

"Look, Louis, I'm sorry about your grandfather, I truly am, and speaking as your best friend, it think it's time you started to, you know, let loose."

Louis raised an eyebrow. "Let loose?"

Twitty smiled. "Yeah. You know, quit bottling all your emotion inside and let yourself release some of it."

Louis nodded slightly; still not too keen on what Twitty was getting at.

"Exactly how do you mean 'let loose'?"

Twitty shrugged, a devious smile forming on his face.

"There's this club, right? It let's minors in. Sure, it's at a price, but at twenty bucks its well worth it."

The two boys had made it to their homeroom and were a sitting in their seats in the back of the room.

"How do you know about this, Twitty?" Louis asked skeptically.

Twitty shrugged. "My cousin brought me there the last time he came over to visit. It's really cool though, Louis. We should totally go."

Louis nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, I'll go. When?"

Twitty smiled one last time before the final bell.

"Tonight."

…………………………………………………………………..

"Hey! What's up guys?" Tawny asked as she placed her tray on the table and took a seat next to Twitty.

Louis shrugged. "Nothing."

"Are you doing anything tonight, Louis?" Tawny resumed, a hint of anxiety in her voice.

Louis glanced at Twitty before diverting his attention back to Tawny.

"Um…Actually, I made plans to hang out with Twitty tonight. Why?"

Tawny looked down at her tray.

"Oh. No reason. It's just, Tom and I were getting together to study tonight and wanted to know if you wanted to join us. Twitty too, if he wanted to."

Louis gave Tawny a look of sympathy.

"I'm sorry, Tawny. If I had known that before I made-"

Twitty nudged Louis hard in the ribs hard, forcing a yelp out of him.

"What was that for, man?"

Twitty looked at him fiercely. "I dropped my earring. Help me look for it."

Twitty slipped under the table, dragging a reluctant Louis with him and leaving both Tawny and Tom sitting at the table, confused.

"What's up with the major bruising, man?" Louis asked, nursing his side.

"Oh, give it up, dude. It couldn't have hurt that bad. Anyway, what do you think you're doing, turning down an offer from Tawny like that?"

"What do you mean? I thought we had already made plans to go-"

"Who cares? Louis, Tawny just asked you on a study date! Sure, Tom will be there, but we can work around him. All you need to do is tell her you'll be there. This is your chance- don't blow it!"

"But what about-"

"Louis, as your friend I am telling you to blow me off and go to Tawny's house. Trust me, it's for the best."

Louis grinned and the two made their way out from under the table and back to their chairs.

"Did you find your earring, Twitty?"

Twitty nodded. "Yeah. Actually, it was in my ear the whole time! What are the chances?"

Tawny nodded with her eyebrows raised. She stood up and started to clear her tray.

"Well, maybe we can get together some other time, Louis." Tawny told him, a sparkle in her eyes. "- And study!" She added rather quickly.

Tawny grabbed her tray and started over to the trash barrels. Louis followed her.

"Um…actually, Tawny, there's been a change of plans, and it turns out I can come tonight!"

Tawny couldn't hide the smile forming on her face.

"Great. See you at my house, at seven-o-clock."

Louis nodded and grinned. "Great. See you then, at seven-o-clock. You're house."

The two stood there for a couple moments, staring and grinning at each other.

"Well, I should go." Tawny said, throwing away her tray. "Later, Louis."

As Louis watched her walk out of the cafeteria he felt a sudden weight on his shoulder.

"Dude, do you have any idea what you two looked like?"

Louis looked at Twitty. "What do you mean? What did we look like?"

Twitty laughed. "Let's just say I had to hold down my lunch…again. You two really have to stop that."

Louis rolled his eyes. "Shut up."

………………………………………………………………………………..

Louis glanced at his watch. It was six-forty four.

He sighed as he knocked on Tawny's front door and he shoved his hands into his sweater. It was pretty chilly out, being as it was the middle of December.

Louis watched as the handle turned and a towel- clothed Tawny stood behind the door, a small smile formed on Louis' face.

"Louis!" Tawny blushed. "You're early! Is something wrong?"

Louis shook his head. "Naw. Just wanted to get a head start."

He grinned. "But, you know, I can always come back late. You know, after you're dressed."

Tawny turned a furious shade of pink. "Um…no, no it's okay Louis. Come on in. Let me just finish getting…dressed."

Tawny allowed Louis in her house and showed him into her living room.

"Um…no one's here right now, so make yourself at home. I'll be right back."

Tawny ran up the stairs and Louis could hear the bathroom door slam shut.

He smiled to himself and went over to the refrigerator and grabbed a coke.

He popped it open and made himself comfortable on the couch…

………………………………………………………………………

"Back!" Tawny ran into the living room and sat down next to Louis.

She looked like the same old Tawny, only better. Louis noticed she didn't put on as much make-up as she usually did and he liked the 'fresh' look. Her hair was down, slightly damp, framing her face perfectly.

She cleared her throat. "So…"

"So…"

The phone rang and Tawny jumped. "I should go get that! Be right back."

A minute later, Tawny returned, looking slightly disturbed.

"What's up?" Louis asked her.

Tawny bit her bottom lip. "Your dad just called. Ren's in the hospital."

…………………………………………………………………………..

Tawny and Louis bolted out of the taxicab and ran into the Kaiser Foundation Hospital.

"Where is she? What happened? Who did it?" Louis demanded of the receptionist.

"Hold on, young man. Who are you looking for?"

"Um…Ren Stevens?" Tawny asked the woman before Louis could lash out.

"Ren Stevens." The woman repeated the name quietly to herself, her eyes scanning the list in front of her. "Oh, Eleanor Stevens. Room 202."

"Thank you." Tawny said as she and Louis started their way to the elevator.

"Hold on you two." The woman called from behind her desk. "What's your relation to this young woman?"

Louis and Tawny looked uneasily at each other before responding in unison.

"We're just friends!"

"I am sorry. Only direct family is allowed to visit right now. You can be notified if you-"

"I'm her brother!" Louis snapped, causing Tawny to place her hand on his shoulder to calm him down.

"I'm sorry, but didn't you just tell me that you were just friends?"

Louis rolled his eyes and sighed in aggravation. "We were talking about us." Louis made a motion with his arms, indicating himself and Tawny.

The woman sighed as she took out a form.

"I'm sorry but you're going to have to fill out some paper work before I allow you to-"

"They're family."

Louis, Tawny, and the receptionist all turned around to face Steve. He had his hands placed on either side of Louis' and Tawny's shoulders.

"But, sir, they told me that-"

"Excuse me, they're family." Steve stated firmly and the woman simply nodded.

Steve led the two down the hall to the elevator.

"Wow, dad. That was easy. I thought for sure you'd have to put up a fight with her in order for us to go up."

Steve shrugged. "I defended her husband in a court case. This is her favor to me."

The three piled into the elevator and it was then that Louis notice his dad had been crying.

"Dad?" Louis asked uneasy. "Dad, what's wrong with Ren? What happened?"

Steve opened his mouth to speak, but the elevator opened and instead he motioned for the pair to follow.

Steve suddenly skidded to a halt and Louis and Tawny looked in the direction he was gazing at. Louis let out a tiny gasp and Tawny's eyes went wide.

"Dad? That's not Ren! Tell me that's not Ren!"

Louis searched his father's eyes for some kind of sign, some type of reassurance. Something to let him know that the young girl lying on that hospital bed in the window was _not_ his sister.

The tears forming in his father's eyes confirmed this nightmare and Louis couldn't keep his tears from falling.

Tawny placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Um, I'm going to go down to the cafeteria to get something to eat. I probably won't be able to eat it anyway, but I just can't be here right now." Steve's voice was cracked as he spoke and he turned around to leave.

Louis and Tawny sat down outside of Ren's hospital room. Tawny wrapping her arms around Louis in a semi- embrace. She placed her chin on his back as he cried silently.

"I don't know what happened to her, Tawny, but I can't lose her. Not now. First my grandfather and now Ren?"

"Shhh." Tawny soothed. "Maybe it'll be okay. We don't know what happened. We don't even know how bad it is."

"How bad it is? Tawny, did you see her in there? I hardly recognized her and I haven't even been in there to see her yet!"

"Well, maybe that's what you need to do."

Louis shook his head. "I don't know if I can. If I lose-"

"Shh. Don't think about that right now. But you might as well go in there now before it's too late."

Louis nodded as he inhaled a breath.

He stood up.

"Do you want me to go in there with you?"

Louis smiled and shook his head. "No. I'd like to see her by myself."

Tawny managed a weak smile of sympathy and nodded.

"Okay." She said quietly. "I'll wait for you."

Louis took on last breath and opened the door.

It was dark in her room. Too dark. This wasn't like Ren at all. Everywhere she went she lit up the room, and this one was so dark, so depressing. So _not_ Ren.

"Ren?" Louis whispered, walking over to her and holding her hand in his.

"Ren, are you awake? If you are, I wanted to say, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for whatever happened to you."

Louis looked around the room, anywhere to avoid looking at Ren. She looked so…helpless. So fragile. Her face looked like that of stone and her hand felt cold. An IV was hooked up to her and she had a breathing tube attached somewhere inside her nose. She had a couple scratches and bruises dispersed along her face. Louis thought she looked just like one of the characters out of a television show, with all the equipment and scratches that she had going for her.

"This isn't right." Louis whispered. "You're Ren. You're perfect. I'm the screw up, remember? Not you. That should be me lying there." Louis couldn't help the tears streaming down his face as he grasped the cold hand of his sister.

There was a soft knock at the door. Louis didn't even look up.

"Louis? I have to be getting home soon, before my parents worry." There was a hesitation. "Louis?"

Louis cleared his throat, trying to hide the fact he'd been crying. "Yeah. Yeah, I'll be right there."

Tawny shut the door and waited in hallway.

Louis stood up, not letting go of Ren's hand. "Well, I guess I'm gonna leave. You do okay. You know, get better. I'll see you later."

Louis gently let his sister's cold hand fall limply to her side. He wiped the remaining tears from his eyes.

As he reached the door he turned around. "…I love you, Ren."

Louis opened the door and sat down next to Tawny.

"God, Tawny I don't know what to do! It's like my whole family's falling apart! What's next? Are we going to get a phone call from a dean in Texas telling us that Donnie was found dead in a ditch somewhere?"

Tawny rubbed Louis' back and leaned her head on his back once again.

"Louis, I promise you Ren will be fine. She's tough. She's gonna make it."

Louis met Tawny's eyes for a moment. "I hope you're right."

………………………………………………………………………………….

"Didn't you have to leave?" Louis asked Tawny an hour later.

Tawny looked at her watch. "Yeah. But it doesn't matter. I'll be here as long as you need me. I always will."

Louis smiled as he pulled Tawny closer to him, laying her head on his shoulder.

…………………………………………………………………………………..

Louis took off his shirt as he answered his phone.

"Hello?" He asked as he glanced at his clock.

"Hey, man! How'd the _thing_ with Tawny go tonight?" Twitty's cheerful voice greeted his friend.

Louis sighed. "Oh, it went great, man. Yeah, you know, we were making out like horny chickens on her parent's bed. You know, until my dad called to tell me that Ren was in the hospital."

There was a silence on the other end of the line and Louis took this as his opportunity to undo his pants.

"Dude, what happened?" Twitty's voice was suddenly one full of concern.

Louis sighed. "Well, from what my dad tells me, she was crossing the street, and the elementary school bus was letting off some kids a couple feet from where she was crossing. Her bag had spilled open and she was gathering the stuff up as fast as she could, but apparently the driver couldn't see her since she was so close to it. Ren tried to run to the other side of the street, but in her panic mode, she tripped and the bus caught her foot as she hit face first into the gravel. Lucky one of the kids noticed and told the bus driver to stop."

There was another silence on the other end of the line and Louis took of his pants and replaced them with pajama bottoms.

"Dude, how is she? Is she okay?"

"…Yeah. I mean, she's not exactly conscious right now, but the doctor's said she should be fine."

"Well, if there's anything I can do, let me know, okay?"

Louis nodded even though he knew Twitty couldn't see him.

"Thanks, man. I appreciate it."

"See you tomorrow?"

"Yup. I'll be there."

"Great. See you then."

"Goodnight."

" 'Night."


	5. Revelations?

Louis walked down the seemingly never-ending hallway of his high school. For the first time in his life he felt shut out from the world. He felt alone and he felt as though his family were deserting him, one by one. He just wondered, 'Who's next?'

Louis stopped in front of his locker, struggling it seemed with the combination.

"Hey man." Louis recognized the gentle tone of his best friend.

"Hey, Twitty." Louis acknowledged.

Twitty glanced around the hallway; eyes squinted, as though he were purposely avoiding any further conversation with Louis.

He cleared his throat. "So, any word on Ren?"

Louis met Twitty's eyes for a moment before he resumed pulling and putting things in and out of his locker, looking for nothing in particular but rather an excuse not to face the looks of pity he received from fellow classmates.

"She's still not awake yet."

Twitty could hear the crack in Louis' voice and decided not to press him any farther.

"Hey, Twitty." Tawny greeted.

Twitty nodded his head slightly in acknowledgement. "Hey."

"Um…mind if I have a word alone with Louis?"

Twitty shook his head vigorously. "Not at all. See you guys later."

"Um…Louis, I wanted to talk to you about something…"

……………………………………………………………………………………….

Twitty had a difficult time concentrating during his classes. His mind was wandering and he often found himself thinking about Ren one way or another. Whether he was reminiscing about the short period of time they were able to spend together when she was tutoring him, or if he found himself thinking about how she was doing in the hospital. Either way, his day was pretty much full with thoughts of Ren.

"Mr. Twitty…" His southern-accented English teacher drawled. "Could you please repeat to the class the significance of the theme in "Catcher in the Rye"?"

Twitty shook himself out of his fantasy world, not hesitating to think about the question.

"Pookie?"

The class burst with laughter before quickly shushed by the teacher.

"Excuse me, Alan? Did I perhaps hear you wrong?"

Twitty slumped in his seat and blushed furiously. His teacher, thankfully, left his desk and went on with the lesson, however not without reprimanding Twitty about his lack of attention and coordination.

Twitty couldn't get himself to understand what made him answer with "Pookie". He remembered he was thinking about Ren and found himself thinking about when Louis had accidentally thrown Ren's favorite stuffed animal, 'Pookie', in with the items being sold for the garage sale he was holding. That must have been it. He was just too concerned for Ren. Most likely for no reason at all, nonetheless. Ren was tough. She was perfect. She'd be able to pull through this. What makes this so different from anything else she's been through? Twitty swallowed hard.

'The difference…" He told himself, "Is Ren might not wake up."

…………………………………………………………………………..

"Hey." Twitty greeted his friends as he joined them at the table in the cafeteria.

"What's the matter, Twitty? Life got you down?" Tom inquired. Twitty and Louis shot him a glare while Tawny looked at him sympathetically.

"Whoa, there! Why so glum chums? What's up with-"

Louis grabbed Tom by the collar of his shirt fiercely, causing Tom to drop his sandwich.

"What's your problem? Huh, buddy? Do you find some kind of sick pleasure out of tormenting other people?"

"You know, it's ironic how you bring that up-"

"Look, buddy, maybe it's a joke to you, but my grandfather just died and my sister's lying in a hospital bed, unconscious. I don't know what you're problem is, but-"

Tom placed his hand on Louis' shoulder, gaping at him.

"Louis…I-I had no idea. I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to, to bring that up-"

Louis stole a glance at Tawny before nodding his head.

"It's alright man. You didn't know."

The four kids spent the rest of their lunch period eating in silence, not knowing what to say or even if they should say anything.

…………………………………………………………………………..

"Dude, are you going to see Ren today?" Twitty asked his best friend as they walked their way home after school that day.

Louis nodded, squinting in the direction of the sun. "Yeah."

"Well, do you think it would be alright if I came with you? You know, just to pay my respects."

Louis stopped and looked at Twitty. It was just the two of them out there.

"Dude, she's not dead. Don't talk about her like that."

Twitty nodded. "Sorry man. I didn't mean it like that. But do you think that would be alright if I came?"

Louis thought about it for a minute before responding.

"Sure. Why not?"

Twitty smiled. "Oh! You know what I was thinking? We should write her a song! You know, for when she's out of the hospital."

Louis nodded, his eyebrows furrowed. "That's a good idea, Twitty. Yeah, we should do that!"

"Well, I don't know how good it is, but I started to write down some stuff. You can take a look at it and tell me what you think when we meet up later."

Louis nodded again. "Sure. Alright. Catch you later."

"See ya, man!"

…………………………………………………………………………..

Louis sighed as he flopped backwards on his bed, staring at his ceiling.

He rolled over and looked at his clock as he answered the phone on his nightstand.

"Hello?" He greeted, wondering who could be calling at two-thirty in the afternoon.

"Hey, Lou." Louis recognized his father's voice on the other end of the phone almost immediately.

"Hey dad. What's up?"

"Uh…Louis you're going to be home alone for a little bit while I'm at work and you're mother's flying back home. I'm letting you know now, I'm getting off work early so I can stop at the hospital and see Ren. Did you want to come?"

"Yeah! Definitely. Oh, and dad? Twitty wants to come too. Can he?"

There was a hesitation on the other end of the phone before Steve responded.

"Yeah, sure. Just make sure you're both ready at about five-thirty."

"Dad?"

"Yes, son?"

"Any word on her yet?"

Louis could hear his father sigh deeply.

"Not so much, sport. The doctor's say she's looking better than she did yesterday. There's a big chance that she could wake up within the next week."

Louis exhaled the breath he took in while awaiting his father's answer.

"Great. Alright. I'll see you in a little while. Thanks dad."

"No problem. See you later, kiddo."

Louis hung up the phone and stood up. He paused before the he picked it back up and dialed a number.

"Hey, Twitty, it's Louis…Yeah, hey man, I just wanted to let you know that my dad called and he's going to pick us up in about three hours…Yeah, listen, did you want to go over that song for her now? So it could be ready for her when she wakes up…Yeah. My dad said there's a big chance that she could wake up before the week is up…Yup…I know…Alright…See ya in five…Yup…Later."

Louis laid back on his bed and sighed before hoisting himself up and running down the stairs.

He unlocked the door and made his way to the kitchen to fix himself a sandwich. He snatched the peanut butter from the cupboard, grabbed the strawberry jam from the refrigerator, pulled the bread out of the breadbox, and poured himself a glass of cold milk.

The doorbell rang just as Louis took a bite out of his sandwich.

"Cub int!" Louis yelled through a mouthful of chewy peanut butter.

"Hey, Lou." Twitty greeted as he shut the door.

Louis nodded in acknowledgement as he leant over the counter to focus on swallowing.

"Hey."

"So…"

"So…" Louis took a swallow of his cold milk before continuing. "So, I thought we could work on that song for Ren. You know, if you still wanted to. 'Cuz if you don't, I'll und-"

"Yeah! No, yeah, sure, let's go work on it." Twitty almost beamed with enthusiasm and Louis couldn't help but smile.

"If I didn't know better, I'd say you were crushing on my sister." With that said, Louis took one last bite of his sandwich before tossing it in the garbage.

"Dude! It's, like, Ren. I can't have a crush on Ren!"

"Yeah, whaheber mawn."

"Dude, I can't understand you. You've got, like, peanut butter or something sticking to the roof of your mouth."

Louis rolled his eyes and motioned for Twitty to follow him to the basement. Twitty grabbed his guitar (in case) and his folder, trailing behind his best friend.

"Okay, buddy." Louis started as he helped Twitty set down his things. "Do you know what time it is, first of all?"

Twitty stretched out his arm and glanced at the black, digital watch fitted around his wrist.

"About a three-o-clock."

"Great." Louis bit his bottom lip and rubbed his hands together. "That gives us near two and a half hours to work on it. Plus, we don't even have to finish the song today. It's not like she's…" Louis' voice trailed off and he looked over to Twitty. "So, what have ya got down so far?"

"Well, see this is what I have, but I don't know how good it-"

"Hiddy- ho, neighbor-o!" A strangely familiar voice echoed through the basement.

"Twitty, is that-"

"Yeah, yeah I think it is, Lou."

The two boys turned around slowly and cautiously to face the small, levitated basement window. There they laid eyes upon a grinning, blond- haired boy, maybe about eight years old.

"Beans!" The two boys shouted in unison.

"That's me name, don't wear it-"

"Beans! What are you doing here!" Louis shouted in aggravation and impatience.

Beans looked at Louis thoughtfully and smirked. "Did you know that if you fart more than thirt-"

"Beans!" Louis shouted once more, this time louder and more forcefully than before.

"Geesh! What crawled up your butt and died?"

"Beans, why don't you be a nice little mutant and go bother Tom? Okay? That's a good boy. Go on!" Twitty urged the young boy.

"You can't get rid of me that easily."

"Beans, what will it take for you to just leave?" Louis begged.

"Hmm…" Beans pondered a second or two before answering. "Three plates of your finest bacon."

Louis glanced at Twitty before averting his attention back to Beans.

"Bacon? Three plates of bacon and you're out of here?"

Beans furrowed his eyebrows and stroked his chin with his fingers.

"Yes. Yes, three plates of bacon and I won't bother you for…the next five hours."

"I'll make it four packages of bacon if you'll leave us alone for the next two days."

Beans took a moment to think about this new offer. "Make it-"

"Take it or leave it, kid."

"Done."

Louis held out his hand and Beans grabbed it, shaking it violently, sealing the deal.

Just as Beans started up the stairwell, Louis not too far behind, Twitty grabbed Louis' arm.

"Hey, Louis, I have an idea." Twitty almost whispered, as not to attract attention from Beans.

Louis turned his head slightly, to make sure Beans wasn't listening, and proceeded back down the stairs to listen to Twitty's proposition.

When Twitty had finished telling his friend his thoughts, Louis couldn't help but smile.

"Twitty, that's ingenious!" Twitty smiled and shrugged.

Louis ran up the stairs and into the kitchen, just in time to see Beans tearing apart his freezer, no doubt looking for bacon.

"Hey, Beansie. How's about another arrangement? One that doesn't require you going home."

Beans looked away momentarily from his raid of the freezer.

"What did you have in mind?"

Louis grinned and shut the freezer door, before leading his young neighbor back downstairs.

…………………………………………………………….

"Yeah. Yeah, I guess I can do that. Only for Ren, though. She's the only one who's ever really been nice to me all the time. And Tawny."

"What do you mean, Beans? We're nice to you." Louis replied, shocked that little Beans would say such a thing.

"Humph! Yeah, only when you want something!"

"Hey, that's not true! I've been-"

Twitty placed a hand on Louis' shoulder and shook his head.

"Dude, if we're going to go through with this, we have to get a move on. Your dad is going to pick us up at five-thirty and it's already a quarter of four. We have to call Tawny."

Louis nodded. "You go into the living room and call Tom, and I'll go into Ren's room and call Tawny, since Ren's got her own phone line."

Twitty nodded and cocked his head in Beans' direction. "What about the squirt? What're we going to do with him?"

Louis sighed. "Well, I don't know about you, but I'm not in the mood for babysitting."

…………………………………………………………………………………….

"Hey! That's not fair! You can't do this to me! I have friends in high places! Let me in!" Louis locked the door and sighed, glancing out the window at his little friend. He hated to do this to him, he really did. But sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind. Even if it means shoving three packages of bacon into you eight year old neighbor's hands before kicking him out the door.

Louis heard the hard footsteps of his best friend coming upstairs from down in the basement.

"Did you board up that old window downstairs?" Louis asked in exasperation.

Twitty nodded. "Ain't no way that little beast is finding his way into this house, aye matey."

Louis nodded. "Did you lock the porch door? And the side door? And the hatchway leading to the basement? What about all the windows?"

Twitty sighed. "Yes. Yes. Yes. And yes. There's nothing to worry about."

Louis nodded and glanced at the clock in the kitchen.

"Crap! It's already twenty after four. Who knew getting rid of Beansie would take so long? Go call Tom. I'll do Tawny."

Twitty grinned at Louis. "That's not what I meant!"

Twitty was still smiling as he made his way into the living room to the phone.

"Hello. Is Tom there…? Yes. Alan Twitty…Uh huh…Hi, Tom, it's Twitty…Yeah, yeah, good. Um, Louis and I were wondering, well, you know about Ren…yeah, well, we were thinkin' that it might be kind of cool if we got the band back together, you know…yeah! And when she wakes up, we can play her a little song. Ya know?…Yeah. Louis says that she's due to wake up sometime at the end of the week or something, which doesn't give us much time…Don't say that Tom, Louis and his whole family have their heart set on a miracle and to hear you say that there might be a chance…yeah, okay…no…I was thinkin' that, maybe we could do a whole string of songs, you know?…I know she might not be up for it when she first wakes up, so I think three would be suitable…Yeah, well, definitely Sacramento Girl. That was the first one we played as a band. Well, Louis and I were planning on writing a song for her ourselves, but…yeah, I jut thought of something! Why don't you, Tawny, and Beans, well, maybe not Beans, but you and Tawny help us write it? Then it would be by the whole band?…Yeah…Alright…I'll just have to run it by Louis, but it should be fine…Yeah…But, you're in, right? Okay, great…Yup…of course…Yeah…Talk to you later…Kay…Bye…"

Twitty hung up the phone and glanced around the living room, scanning the pictures along the wall. He saw a picture of Mr. And Mrs. Stevens when they were at their high school prom. A _long_ time ago. There was a picture of Mr. and Mrs. Stevens at the hospital, Mr. Stevens leaning over his wife who was holding a newborn baby. _Probably Donnie_ Twitty thought, judging by how young the two new parents looked in the picture. The next picture consisted of Donnie, Ren, and Louis. Twitty could tell it was professionally taken by the lighting and the position the three siblings were in. As Twitty went down the wall, he came across several more photographs of the family, including two more birth pictures and a couple more visibly taken with a photographer.

"Hey, man."

Twitty jumped and turned around.

"Hey. So, what's up with Tawny?"

Louis smiled. "She's definitely up for it."

Twitty nodded and smiled back.

"What about Tom?"

"He's in."

Louis clapped his hands together. "Great! Now we have to schedule practices and such."

"One thing at a time, Lou. Besides, you're dad will be here in…" Twitty glanced at his watch. "Forty-five minutes."

Louis nodded and sighed. He flopped himself on the couch, Twitty sitting down next to him, flipping on the television.

Louis brought his hands to his own face and stroked it. "I don't know what I'm going to do, Twitty. If I lose my family, then…"

"Hey, don't say that, Lou. That's not going to happen. Okay, your grandfather died. Ren's in the hospital in critical condition. Who's to say that she's not going to come out of it? Louis, I hate to tell you this, I really do, but old people die all the time. My grandfather died when I was seven, so far no one else I care about has had any brush with death. And don't take it the wrong way, I'm not telling you to get over your grandfather's death, I'm not saying that at all. I'm just saying, the fact that your grandfather died doesn't necessarily mean that you're on a bad luck streak. It happens, Lou, sometimes to the best of us."

Twitty looked at Louis sympathetically and Louis smiled.

"Thanks man."

"No problem. Hey, what are friends for?"

Louis grinned and averted his attention to the televion.

Near twenty minutes later, a noise interrupted their television show.

"Dude, my dad's beeping the car horn. Grab your stuff and let's go."

Twitty nodded and ran into the basement to retrieve his backpack and guitar case.

The ride to the hospital was quiet. Louis switched the radio on and the three men sat in silence the rest of the way there.

"Ren Stevens." Steve told the secretary working the front desk. The woman nodded and began to tell him the room number before she realized he had already left.

"Dad?" Louis asked his father in the elevator. Steve acknowledged his son with a swift grunt. "Um, does Donnie know? A-About Ren?"

Steve looked at his son with sad eyes. "No. But, the doctor's told us that she should be waking up soon, so why worry Donnie with something that'll make him worry for nothing?"

"Yeah, but what if it's-"

The elevator door opened, preventing Louis from completing his sentence.

"Not nothing." He mumbled to himself, sighing.

"C'mon, man." Twitty tugged at his friend's arm, dragging him along to keep up with his father.

The three men stood outside the hospital room, contemplating silently to themselves whether or not they _really_ wanted to go in there. Of course they didn't _want_ to go in there. Who would want to walk into a hospital room and see someone they loved in that condition? No one would _want_ to. They had to. It was their obligation and they couldn't abandon Ren now. No, not now.

Louis cleared his throat, easing the tension slightly. "So, are we going to go in there at the same time…or do we want to-"

"Um, I think it would be easier if we went by ourselves." Steve stated. "Atleast, I would like to have some time alone with her."

Louis and Twitty nodded in agreement.

"So, do you want to go first?" Louis asked his father.

Steve inhaled a breath and nodded. "Yeah. I'll go first."

Steve gave the two boys a weak smile and headed into Ren's hospital room.

Louis and Twitty sat in the hallway, on the strip of chairs along the wall. Like the car ride, they sat in unspoken silence.

"Oh, Louis!"

Louis looked in surprise as his frantic mother came running out of the elevator, open arms, toward him. Louis stood up automatically and embraced her.

"Oh…I can't believe this is happening!" Eileen sobbed into her youngest son's shoulder. "I was halfway to Chicago when your father called me on the plane…saying that…Ren was in the hospital…in critical condition." Mrs. Steven's sobs increased and Louis gently stroked her back in a comforting motion.

A moment later, the sound of a door opening caught their attention and Louis saw as his father came walking out of the room. He made their way to their embrace, taking over Louis' position, silently telling him to go ahead and see his sister. Louis nodded in appreciation and paused before opening the door. No, wait. He _had_ to do this. He almost laughed at how absurd he was acting. _This is Ren._ He reminded himself. _Of course she's going to get through this. _

He resumed his attempt at opening the door, this time succeeding in the task. He shut the door gently behind him and took a seat beside her bed. He sat there for a minute, silence seeming to be the theme of the night.

He cleared his throat. "So, you've set a record already. Only in the hospital for a night and already people are talking. Probably because this is the first time Ren Stevens has ever missed a day of school. Well, with the exception of when you had the flu." Louis chuckled lightly as the thought of Ren begging to go to school entered his mind. Ren is probably, scratch that, _is_ the only person he knows who would do anything in her power to _not_ miss school. Any normal person would try their best to miss school. But, Ren wasn't normal. And that's what made Ren…well…Ren. And, no matter what kind of fights or disagreement may have befallen the young siblings, he loved that about her and wouldn't change it for the world.

Louis sighed. "You know, it's weird. I mean, you've gone to sleepovers before. And I've been trying to look at it like that. It's only been one night, right? But, no matter how much I try to convince myself that you're just sleeping over Ruby's house or something, it just doesn't feel right. Maybe I'm just growing up. Finding out that…there's always a truth behind some things." Louis shook himself out of his apparent daze and smiled at Ren, though he knew somewhat that she wasn't able to see him. He stood up. "Just wake up soon. It's too quiet with only one of us in the house."

Louis leant over her bed and kissed her quickly on the cheek before going for the door. He glance once more at his older sister before opening the door and motioning for Twitty to go in.

Twitty patted his best friend on the back and gave him a weak smile before imitating the process Louis had initiated previously. After taking a seat in the same chair the two Stevens' men had presumably sat in while visiting with Ren, Twitty was at a loss for words; which was ironic, since he had a whole speech made in his mind before he got there. He wasn't surprised though; he found it continuously difficult to talk to Ren whenever they were in the same room together. Even when he called for Louis and Ren answered the phone, he felt as though he'd swallow his tongue or he'll throw up if he talked to her any longer. Even if it was just 'Hey Ren, is Louis there?' and Ren would say 'Sure, Twitty, hold on. Let me get him.' The butterflies he'd been trying to keep locked up for the last year and a half would be released involuntarily at the very sight of his best friend's sister walking down the high school hallway everyday, or the simple 'hello' she'd greet him everytime he'd go over and ask for Louis. At night he would lay in bed and wonder. He would wonder if his part in harassing and pulling pranks on Ren, of course by the urging of Louis, had anything to do with his growing affections towards the older girl. He would wonder when this little 'crush' had formed, and if he could even call it that. Soon enough, the thoughts of denial had vanished and he knew that it was, indeed,a crush. He in no means was naïve enough to think that it was love, but thought it better if he were to ask for a second opinion of the situation. Sure, he's had crushes before, even girlfriends, but having feelings for someone he's known his whole life was new to him.

Tawny was the one person he knew he could count on not to tell Louis, or Ren for that matter. The thought of confiding in Beans was immediately shot down. He thought that Tom wouldn't be a bad choice, but Tawny just seemed better, more practical. Besides, she was a girl. She knows more about these issues.

Twitty was sitting in the chair, absent-mindedly holding Ren's limp hand in his own. He suddenly found it difficult to talk to her, even in her present condition, but felt as though he should say _something_. After all, Tawny did advise him to tell her how he feels, and what better time to express his feelings than right now?

Twitty's throat was suddenly dry. He cleared it before speaking. "Um, Ren…" He began, suddenly at a loss for words.

_This is ridiculous. She's not even awake and I'm nervous about being around her. _

"Ren, I know you can't hear me, but I think this is the best time to tell you that-"

There was a sudden tap at the door and Louis' head peeked in through the crack.

"Hey, not to rush you or anything, but we have to get going pretty soon and my mom wants to visit before we leave."

Twitty nodded. "I'll be right out."

"Okay." Louis gave a small smile before shutting the door.

Twitty sighed and stood up. "I guess I'll be seeing you."

He walked over to the door and paused, looking as though he was contemplating turning around for one last glance, but instead opened the door and walked out.


End file.
